[center][h2]Kochiya Sanae[/h2][h3]Aventon[/h3][/center]

Having spent the last few days doing what she could in aftercare—which, in this case, really just meant 'praying for those who were healed but unconscious to recover'—Sanae had most certainly seen better days. For what little it was worth, being moved to one of the town's sole undamaged inns meant that she didn't have to sleep on the hardwood floor every night, and even [i]that[/i] much gave her that much more energy to get through the day. It was no plush futon, but any improvement to her living situation was still greatly welcomed.

Beyond that, though, the Moriya shrine maiden had spent a majority of her time scouting out more of the region. Flight magic did not seem to be all that popular, which made her ability to fly around all the more valuable in keeping watch from the skies and looking around for anything that might be noteworthy enough to report on. It wasn't anything groundbreaking in the long run, but flying through the skies—even if it was for a less leisurely purpose than usual—was a good way to take her mind off of everything she had seen. She might not have been a child, but after having been so comfortable with the way that spellcard rules 'protected' them back in Gensokyo, seeing what actual battles could bring about—and what people were [i]capable[/i] of—left her quite grateful for the world she had lived in before.

If only they could resolve this incident and go back home, though.

Those few days that followed both the routing of the centipedes and Raven Heralds alike did bring forth new revelations, though. Apparently, while the rest of them were out on their escapades in the nearby forest (or, in the case of Rayne and the newcomer, right outside the town walls), Anne had cared for the children that had been present when they had first arrived, and in so doing provided them with that most certainly [i]felt[/i] like a prophetic dream of sorts to Sanae.

To her, it felt clear how to proceed—namely, to explore the capital and see what it was plaguing it—but that meant splitting their forces to travel in the first place. The issue of a possible Herald counterattack had been brought up as a possibility multiple times over the last few days whenever she happened to overhear Anne's discussion with Kendrick, but that only served to make her antsier.

What could she do? How could they proceed? If this was Gensokyo, it'd be a simple matter to simply charge ahead and beat up the enemies one by one...

But this wasn't Gensokyo, and the enemies here didn't abide by spellcard rules. Her own capabilities in battle paled in comparison to the others', but she still had to do [i]something[/i] to help solve this incident.

With those thoughts in her head, Sanae continued to spend her time in the skies lost in her thoughts. Eventually, a stroke of luck would leave her to notice a trade caravan in the distance, and it was her word that would allow the town to be notified of the matter a day or so in advance.

Once the caravan had arrived proper, Sanae found herself among the group of otherworldly travelers perusing the goods that they had present. The young woman less interested in that, though, so much as she was in their next destination. Though she had grown fond of Aventon's residents, her intuition told her that simply staying at this town forever wouldn't bring them any closer to any answers.

The traders themselves seemed rather curious about the otherworlders, what with their somewhat out-of-place appearances compared to both the townsfolk [i]and[/i] the others who they had seen. Natural curiosity only gave way to a willingness—or maybe even a bit of forwardness—to reach out and ask those present about why they were here in a frontier town to begin with. 

The goods that the traders were willing to move, though, seemed to showcase a brief glimpse into the lives of those who lived in the country. There was food and cloth aplenty—perfect to help shore up what Aventon had lost in the attack—and it seemed apparent that the animal parts they had retrieved over the last few days were more than sufficient to act as materials for barter, but also simple clothing, spare weapons, and even other prepared animal—and [i]monster[/i]—parts that seemed to have some use or another. On top of that, there did seem to be a small selection of trinkets and toys for children, and even a few tomes—tightly covered and kept away from the elements—for those few oddballs who wanted to learn more of the world from the comfort of their homes.

Unfortunately, magical goods seemed to be in short supply; if prompted as to why, the traders on hand would come up with a variety of reasons—the lack of expertise in magical goods on their behalf, a lack of skill to create them present within their contacts, a small market for them from traveling merchants like themselves...

It did seem as if there were stores for such things in larger locales, but a group like theirs? Far from it.

Eventually, though, Sanae [i]did[/i] choose to reach out to greet one of the more important-looking merchants in the group—a middle-aged man with graying hair—and after a bit of small talk, brought up the question of where they were from and where they were headed to next.

"Mmm... Well, we left from the capital, Nieve, and circled around westward through a few towns before ending up here at Aventon," the merchant began, "but I think that our current route ends here. We're headed back to Nieve once we're done here, so please, do make the most of the time you have perusing our wares."

"Back to Nieve...?" Sanae parroted before glancing at the other people summoned from other worlds nearby. "...Do you think it'd be too much to ask if some of us could travel with you, then?"

"With us? Well, I think you'd have to pay a bit to join as a customer; we're not a traveling service, after a—"

"We can all take care of ourselves, I think," Sanae interjected, "In fact, I think we might be more capable than the guards in your employ right now."

A few of those same guards seemed to overhear the young woman speaking and snickered to themselves snidely at her (in their eyes, delusional) statement, and the merchant she was speaking to seemed to carry the same opinion. He, at least seemed to be holding it in a bit better.

"Well, miss, you might be a bit well-spoken, but I don't know if your words are sharp as a blade," he responded, a hearty chuckle slipping past his lips, "That big golem-like friend of yours I'd believe that from, but—and I say this with the utmost concern for your well-being—these people with me are quite amazing in their own right, and they're proud of it. Making light of them is only only going to cause problems for [i]everyone[/i], myself included."

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